1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to data processing systems and, in particular, to a data processing system included within an oscilloscope for automatically and independently testing an input signal. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a data processing system and method included within an oscilloscope for automatically analyzing an input signal, independently from any user input, utilizing each of a plurality of triggering modes and trigger parameters specified for each of the triggering modes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oscilloscopes are known in the art for receiving test signals from a circuit-under-test and for displaying those signals as a function of voltage (or current) versus time. The oscilloscope is set to trigger on a particular point of the input waveform. Triggering parameters, such as type of triggering mode and horizontal and vertical sweep are manually set on the oscilloscope. Once the input signal is tested utilizing a set of triggering parameters, a user of the oscilloscope may manually reset the oscilloscope to a different set of triggering parameters.
Many different triggering modes are known in the art. The modes include edge triggering, slew, glitch, runt, pulse width, or time-out triggering. A user may select any of the triggering modes available on the oscilloscope. Once the input signal has been analyzed utilizing one of the modes, the user may manually set the oscilloscope to a different triggering mode.
Modern oscilloscopes often include a data processing system. The data processing system is utilized by the oscilloscope to assist a user in properly triggering on the input signal. When utilizing modern oscilloscopes which include an internal data processing system, the need for the user to “find” the input signal on the display screen by continually changing the horizontal and vertical sweep settings is significantly reduced.
However, even when utilizing modern oscilloscopes, the user must select a particular triggering mode including triggering parameters, and analyze the displayed waveform. The user must still manually change the selected triggering mode including triggering parameters.
Therefore a need exists for a method and system in a data processing system and method included within an oscilloscope for automatically analyzing an input signal utilizing each of a plurality of triggering modes and trigger parameters specified for each of the triggering modes, such that a user's input during the analysis is not required.